St. Andrew's boys, girls beat Cypress Bay in water polo play-in games

Scots advance to Friday's state quarterfinals

BOCA RATON – Stuck in a surprising tie in the second half, St. Andrew's boys water polo team proceeded to show why it's one of the premier programs in the state.

The Scots scored three times in a span of three minutes late in the third period and held on for an 11-7 home win against Cypress Bay in Tuesday afternoon's first round play-in game.

St. Andrew's girls had a considerably easier time advancing to Friday's state quarterfinals as they scored the first 11 goals and beat Cypress Bay 16-5 in the first game of the day at Duff Tyler Aquatic Complex.

The brother-sister tandem of senior Quinn Cassidy and eighth-grader Kate Cassidy played key roles in the victories, with the elder Cassidy scoring three goals -- as did teammates Xander Cohen and Landy Lopez – and the younger one racking up nine goals.

St. Andrew's boys, the 2010 and 2011 state champion and state's third-ranked team this year, were tied at 5 before Lopez scored with 3:35 left in the third, Cassidy fired in the ball with 1:34 left and Cohen made it 8-5 less than a minute later.

"We've been in that position before this year. All of our games have been that close," said St. Andrew's coach Kurt Predmore, whose team's five losses (18-5) this season have come by a combined five goals. "We didn't want it to be that close, but we knew how to finish it."

Added Cassidy: "Cypress Bay is a great team. We weren't as focused as we should have been and they caught us down and played a great game. There was definitely nervousness. But we knew what we had to do and we accomplished it."

Freshman Andres Schmidt scored four goals for Cypress Bay, including back-to-back ones as the Lightning (9-2) closed the first half with three goals in a span of 89 seconds.

"It was an awesome team effort. We knew it was going to be a hard game," Schmidt said. "Our confidence was high with the score 4-4. We thought we could actually win this game. We came out in the second half strong and with confidence, but they just outplayed us."

Cypress Bay coach Jakob Muller said of his team: "The team played their hardest. They went all out and did their best. So I have no regrets."

In the girls' matchup, the fifth-ranked Scots (13-10) dominated from the start. Cassidy scored five consecutive goals spanning the second and third periods, senior Morgan Goldstein scored five goals for the game and goalkeeper Sasha Kraver blocked 10 shots. Maria Faret had two goals to lead the Lightning (8-3), and Taelor Aesen, Jessie Modrak and Tori Sherwood also scored.

"I think we started out slow, but as we got more momentum, it was a really good game for us," Goldstein said. "We're improving every single game so it's really exciting."

Scots girls coach Adam Gaffey said of Kraver: "She continues to play outstanding. She's made all the difference for us this year."

In Friday's state quarterfinals at Miami Ransom Everglades, St. Andrew's girls will play the winner of Apopka-Wekiva's play-in game against Orlando Lake Nona. St. Andrew's lost twice to Lake Nona earlier this season. St. Andrew's boys will face the winner of Apopka-Lake Nona.